REAL ISLAM – PART IX

In PART VII of this series, we looked at what the Islamic scriptures known as the Hadith say about what the Time of the End will look like. We took a look at the Mahdi, the Islamic messiah, and noted how some forces within Islam are working toward producing the conditions they believe are necessary for his appearance on the scene. Iran is one of those players – and so it the newly successful terror group ISIS. This inevitably sets up the discussion of whether this Mahdi may indeed be the coming Antichrist. Over the course of the next couple of installments, I hope to provide a balanced case both for and against. It is a position that just a few years ago I supported wholeheartedly. Now I’m not so sure. Though I do think that much of the same evidence can point to another prophetically significant role for Islam in the Last Days scenario.

WHO DAT MAN ?

“Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:1-2)

To understand ‘Real Islam’ we must have a good handle on how they view the End Times. Dr David Reagan does a masterful job of summarizing Islamic beliefs on this subject. The Islamic end really begins with the appearance of the Dajjal, the Islamic antichrist. It is written that he will be an Iranian Jew. Dr Reagan writes: “He will deceive many by his godliness and his miracles. He will go forth with an army of 70,000 Jews and 70,000 Tartars, and he will conquer all the world except Mecca and Medina.” His rule will only last 40 days. This will be followed by the coming of the Mahdi, the Islamic messiah. A descendant of Mohammed, he will come riding in on a white horse. He is to “deliver the world from the reign of the Dajjal. In the process he will conquer Israel and slaughter the Jews. He will establish a new Islamic world headquarters in Jerusalem, and he will rule for 7 years.” Then it really gets strange. Next Jesus shows up on the Mount of Olives and immediately heads to Damascus where he – Jesus – signs up as the Mahdi’s assistant. It is this Jesus or Issa himself that kills the Dajjal and arranges for the “annihilation of the Jews.” “Jesus will then serve as an Islamic evangelist, proclaiming Islam as the one and only true religion, and he will establish Islamic Shari’ah law throughout the entire earth.”[i] It all ends with a Day of Judgment at which Allah comes to Earth to “weigh the good and bad deeds of each person. This is called the concept of ‘the Scale.’ The deeds of all people will be weighed in Allah’s scales to determine their eternal destiny.”[ii] This is a far cry from the Truth revealed in the Bible. But if we look at the events expected to come we can see the Mahdi and Issa are to engineer the conquering of Israel, the slaughter of the Jews and the establishment of a seven year reign in Jerusalem, somewhat mimicking the prophetic outline of the Antichrist’s career.

As we look at that scenario we can begin to understand how the ethic of slaughter can be justified in the mind of today’s jihadists. Imams have often ruled that anything is permissible in the name of advancing Islam. This includes lying and a false treaty called the Hudna, a practice approved and executed by Mohammed himself. It also includes the taking of sex slaves from among those deemed unbelievers. Yes, that has been deemed a religiously-approved practice. And if Jews and other infidels (Christians / Hindus etc) are to be eventually slaughtered: Why not get a start on it now? So we should not be surprised at news stories such as the following.

First there’s a headline regarding a story from supposedly civilized Pakistan, a sometime US ally. “Pakistan Court Upholds Death Sentence Against Christian Woman Who Allegedly Drank Water From a Well Reserved for Muslims.”[iii] Another story tells how ISIS used chemical weapons against the Kurds.[iv] The UK’s Daily Mail reported recently on images discovered on a captured jihadi cell phone that showed what appeared to be the beheading of an infant and terrorists “playing football with severed heads.” There is also the image of a 17-year-old boy who was crucified for 3 days due for taking photos of the ISIS terrorists.[v][vi] Then there is the report from Worthy Christian News that “women and girls being held captive by ISIS at Mosul’s Badush Prison have been given the choice to either convert to Islam, or suffer rape on a daily basis until they change their minds. Badush holds hundreds of Christian, Yazidi and Turkmen women who are being gang-raped for refusing to convert to Sunni Islam. Some of them are being sold as sex slaves to recruit Muslim men into ISIS.”[vii] One such sex slave managed to get a phone call out to the British press. The Daily Mail reported that she said: “I’ve been raped 30 times and it’s not even lunchtime.”[viii] This apparently is the look of ‘Real Islam,’ the ‘Religion of Peace’!

So there are many in the ranks of Christian prophecy scholars who look at the Islamic writings on the Last Days; and look at the efforts being made to bring forth the Mahdi; and take note of the barbarism and intolerance that accompanies the operations of the religion of peace and conclude that the Islamic Mahdi – will indeed be the Biblical Antichrist. Let’s start with Islamic tradition. It is very revealing. The Great Mahdi, is predicted to make his appearance riding a white horse. Even Islamic scholars will grant that this is one area where the Bible has not been corrupted. To their way of thinking, the Mahdi will return following the opening of the 1st seal judgment described in Revelation 6:1.[ix] Arab leaders in the Middle East are taking their own prophecies very seriously indeed. Many are said to have white horses on hand, in case they are selected as ‘the One’. Forward thinking indeed!

There is much to read into that short passage of Revelation quoted above. Notice the rider will be on a “white horse”, have a “bow” and a “crown” and go out “conquering and to conquer”. The redoubtable Hal Lindsey helps us break that passage down. The first seal, he points out, is broken near the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week, shortly after the believing Church has been raptured. That is when both the Mahdi and the Antichrist are expected to come on the scene. Secondly, the white horse and the bow without arrows are symbolic of his entre’ as a man of peace. Coming out of a time of turmoil, Daniel 8:25 confirms of the Antichrist: That “by peace he shall destroy many”. Even the Greek word for crown used in the passage denotes the crown of a conqueror not royalty. This Prince is a usurper. Then there is this. Lindsey sees a clue to the identity of the rider in Genesis 21:20. The first man with a bow mentioned in Scripture is identified there as Ishmael. Now Ishmael is the son of Abraham through Hagar, his servant girl; – and is the father of the Arab race. Interestingly this returning 12th Mahdi is the direct descendant of Mohammed, who is the direct descendant of Kedar, the second son of Ishmael.[x] There is some scriptural support for the notion that the Antichrist will be indeed be an Arab. Micah 5:5-6 identifies him as “the Assyrian” from the “land of Nimrod”. Now Assyria encompasses what is now Iran and Iraq and Nimrod, whose name means “rebel”, ruled his empire from Babylon itself, – the very symbol of mankind’s end-time rebellion.[xi] Babylon is of course in Iraq. Saddam himself began to reconstruct the city. Revelation identifies Babylon as the seat of Man’s end times anti-God rebellion. Scripture tells us that in the end, it will be destroyed.

The long-held objection to the notion of an Islamic Antichrist has been the clear understanding that he must come from the revived Roman Empire. Daniel 9:26 tells us that he shall be of “the people of the prince who is to come [who] Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” It was the Roman Army that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. The general interpretation has been that the Antichrist would come from the European Union, which occupies the territory of what was the Western part of the Roman Empire. In Daniel 2, God gave Daniel a clear understanding of the general outline of history. He showed him King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a large statue, representing the 5 world empires that would rule over Israel: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Alexander’s Greece, Rome, and in the last days, a revived Rome. In fact the legs of the statue represented the Roman Empire. This accurately portrayed the split in the Empire between its Eastern and Western halves. Many forget that there even was an Eastern Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople, (modern Istanbul), that outlasted the West by about a thousand years. This Eastern leg took in all of the Middle East including the territories now occupied by Syria, Iran and Iraq. This certainly opens up the possibility of an Arab / Islamic Antichrist and comports with Micah 5, quoted above.

Now according to Islamic tradition, when the Mahdi comes, he is to initiate a war that will result in the destruction of one-fourth of mankind.[xii] Again, just look at what Scripture has to say. The opening of the Second Seal produces “Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.” Along with the riders of the next two horses, “power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:4,8) It is instructive that Islamic tradition again agrees with the Bible here, telling us that the war which the Mahdi will wage will kill a fourth of mankind. With that by way of introduction let’s take a comparative look at what Islam and Christianity teach about their respective Messiahs.

The Antichrist File

Let’s begin by looking at the profile that the Bible gives of the coming “man of sin”. (2Thessalonians 2:3) The Scriptures also refer to him as a “king of fierce countenance” (Daniel 8:23), “the beast” (Revelation 11:7), and “son of perdition”; (2Thessalonians 2:3) – 33 names in all.[xiii] Each name given reveals a little more of the character of this ‘seed of the Serpent’. (from Genesis 3:15). Zechariah 11:17 even gives some clues as to the physical appearance of the Antichrist, referring to him as a “foolish shepherd”. “ Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”[xiv] Revelation 13:3 tells us “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed.” Scholars see this referring to a “fake death and resurrection” staged by the Antichrist to increase his following. (Remember, the Antichrist will in all ways possible, be an imitation of the True Christ, Jesus.) Revelation 13:3 finishes by telling us, “And all the world marveled and followed the beast”. Below we’ll look at some of what the Bible tells us about the career and the character of that future prince.

Rise From Rome – The Antichrist will rise from a revived Roman Empire. (Daniel 9:26) Rome controlled most of Europe as well as the Middle East. (Consult Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Revelation 6, and Revelation 17)

Come To Power In Turmoil – Daniel 12:1 reads: “there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation”. It will be a time of both physical and spiritual trouble. (Revelation 12:7-10)

Seven Year Reign – His effective career will last seven years beginning with his confirmation of a treaty involving Israel. (Daniel 9:27 & elsewhere)

Pose As A Man of Peace – (Revelation 6:2) However that will just be a front. Daniel 8:25 tells us that “through his policy…by peace [he] shall destroy many”.

Great Orator / Man of Genius – Daniel 7:20

He Will Pass For A Gentile Prince – (Daniel 9:26-27)

He Will Invade Jerusalem – He will control the Temple Mount (Revelation 13:1-2)

Received As The Jewish Messiah – Jesus told the Jews in John 5:43, that though they rejected Christ, “if another comes in his own name, him you will receive”.

Unify The World’s Religions – The world will follow the False Prophet (The Islamic Jesus, perhaps??), who will lead the world in the worship of the beast. (Revelation 13:11-15) And “All who dwell on the earth will worship him”. (Revelation 13:8)

He Will Make War Against True Believers – (Revelation 13:7) And he will behead those who have been faithful in their “witness to Jesus and for the word of God”. (Revelation 20:4)

Rule Much Of The World – “And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation”. (Revelation 13:7) Many are now openly working for world government. Former Deputy Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott is longing for a time when “nationhood as we know it will be obsolete”…and there will be but one “…single, global authority”.[xv]

He Will Declare Himself God – 2 Thessalonians 2:4 reveals that he will sit “ as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”. Revelation 13:3 tells us that the world “will worship the beast, saying “Who is like the beast?””. [xvi]

In summary, here’s what the reign of the Antichrist will look like. He will institute:

One World Religion – Authority Over All Religions

Total Economic Control – The Mark of the Beast will control all financial transactions.

One World Government – Total Political Control

This combination of all-encompassing political and religious authority which the Antichrist will exercise has been attempted before, but never quite pulled off. This office of priest-king was pretended to by a line of kings, beginning with Nimrod, builder of the tower of Babel and founder of false religion. During the Tribulation, the last 7 years before Christ’s return, the Antichrist will succeed in pulling it off. Like another would-be priest-king ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes who did it in 167 BC, the Antichrist will desecrate the Temple of God with something called the “abomination of desolation”, the ultimate insult against a Holy God. (See Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31) Next we’ll look at what Islamic scripture has to say about their coming Mahdi. The similarity may astound!

[xiv] Chuck Missler, A Man On Horseback, from Behold A White Horse, from The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, November 1999

[xv] Strobe Talbott, The Birth of the Global Nation, Time, July 20, 1992, as quoted by Chuck Missler, A Man On Horseback, from Behold A White Horse, from The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, November 1999

[xvi] Much of the preceding was adapted from Chuck Missler, The Man On Horseback, Behold A White Horse, Personal Update News Journal, November 1999

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